Cell Mates
by Black Licorice Addict
Summary: All failed missions had consequences, some more dire than others. Cassie just hoped she was strong enough to survive this, if only to ensure Jaime didn't pay for her mistakes. Slight Jaime/Cassie near the end.


**A/N: This new pairing obsession is getting out of control. I have no excuses. None.**

**Disclaimer: YJ is not mine. Just this new found love.**

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**Cell Mates**

_The world is blowing up._

_The world is caving in._

_The world has lost her way again._

_But you are here with me. Makes it okay._

–_Dave Matthews_

Her eyes felt as leaden as her limbs when she cracked them open, dim moonlight sifting through slender cracks in the crumbling prison. Realistically, Cassie knew those decrepit walls stood no chance against her super strength, but her captors had taken that into account and had planned accordingly. Weights constructed from alien technology were attached to chains that tethered Wonder Girl's wrists and ankles, preventing her from doing any real damage. Every time she fought and pulled, the density of the weights increased, and shock waves were transmitted up the chains, draining the blonde of any energy she still possessed.

Her fury at being captured was slowly ebbing away with her strength. But as she forced both eyes wide open and shifted her arms, Cassie remembered why she continued to struggle, to survive.

Her grimy fingers brushed against the metallic scarab, its smooth surface a stark contrast to the bruised, lacerated skin that currently played host to it. Jaime had it way worse, in Cassie's opinion. Machines from New Genesis had been used to disrupt Blue Beetle's operating suit, knocking out both the AI and its operator for nearly 12 hours at first contact. Any time Jaime attempted to re-transform, the harmful frequencies were emitted from a mobile device, knocking him unconscious once more.

As if that weren't enough, their abductors began experimenting with various frequencies in attempt to permanently remove the scarab from his spine. All they succeeded in doing was temporarily rendering the AI incapable of communicating with Jaime and putting them both through excruciating pain.

Cassie could only watch helplessly, cuffs digging into her arms as she screamed at the guards to leave her teammate alone. But Deathstroke was not known for his benevolence, and her yells fell upon deaf ears.

She licked her dry lips, which did absolutely nothing to abate the bleeding from the tiny cracks. They hadn't had a drop of water since the day before, and neither had eaten for longer than that. The protégé of Wonder Woman didn't even know how long they had been down in that cell, shut off from the world. There were too many blackout periods, too many minutes and hours she couldn't account for. The gnawing hunger may have been there for three days or three weeks or three years.

The one thing Cassie Sandsmark _did_ know was that they wouldn't survive much longer if their team didn't find them soon.

Despair began to creep into the corners of the small cell, and Cassie had to focus her attention back to the object of her motivation for staying alive.

Jaime lay there on his side, facing her, his breaths shallow through his increasingly blue lips as they gently skimmed across her cheek. She had moved closer to him during the night, partially to share what little warmth they could, but mostly to ensure that he was still alive, was still breathing.

Her hands traced up his torso and arms, checking for any new injuries, anything that may be fractured or broken. The sweep concluded at his face, her fingers delicately tracing a gash on his jaw before cupping his cheek.

"Jaime," she whispered, voice still hoarse from earlier when the guards had last visited. "Hey, wake up."

Something in her tone caused him to stir, eyes slowly blinking open, unfocused and weary. "Cass?" He mumbled, voice barely audible in the echoing silence.

"Yeah," she sighed in relief. "Yeah, it's me. Are you…" she trailed off, unsure she really wanted to know the truth.

"Mmm…peachy," he answered her impossible question, wincing as he turned onto his back.

He was not peachy. He was not okay. And Cassie couldn't help but feel a mountain of guilt weighing her down even more so than the shackles that confined her limbs.

She had recruited him under Nightwing's orders. She had brought him into this world, into their fold of young superheroes. She had insisted that he come on this mission, had wanted him to be her partner, had given away their position. She had fallen first, had distracted him from escaping.

She had done this.

"Cass? Que piensas?"

"What?" She blinked, turning back to meet Jaime's tired gaze.

"I asked what you were thinking. You kinda zoned out there," he murmured, his half-lidded expression showing the blonde that he wasn't about to stay awake much longer.

"I…" What was she supposed to say? '_Hey, sorry you're about to die for my mistakes'?_

"What's wrong? Why are you crying?" Cassie brought her fingertips to her cheek, wet with moisture her body really couldn't spare. Jaime attempted to sit up, but the effort appeared to be too much, and he quickly collapsed on his side, clutching his abdomen.

"No!" She placed her hand on top of his, the long coil attached to her wrist awkwardly draping over his legs. "No. Don't hurt yourself anymore because of me." The tears were dripping more profusely, making odd water tracks through the dirt and blood flecks smudged across her face.

"Cassie, this isn't your fault-"

"Yes it is!" she insisted. "If I hadn't asked you to join the team or to come on this mission-"

Jaime placed his other hand on top hers, stopping her mid self-loathing speech. "Cass, if you hadn't recruited me, I wouldn't have been able to help all those people. I wouldn't have been able to do as much good, wouldn't have made friends with our teammates-" He paused, clutching her hand tighter. "I wouldn't have met you."

Jaime pulled her closer until they were laying side by side again, heads turned toward each other. "But you wouldn't be dead because of me," she muttered, refusing to meet his eyes. They were just so brown and honest and full of forgiveness, full of everything she didn't think she deserved.

"Cassie-Cassie, look at me." He weakly lifted his arm, slowly reaching for her shoulder. Reflexively, the blonde grasped his hand in hers, holding onto his fingers for dear life. Her blue eyes met his.

"Don't ever think for a second that I didn't want any of this. I made a choice for myself, and I don't regret any of it. This isn't your fault." His eyes were regaining some of their natural spark, a clarity she hadn't seen in days.

"But-"

"No, Cassie." His expression was stern, and she knew, no matter how stubborn she chose to be, the matter was settled. She sighed her defeat, and Jaime gave a half smile, his thumb unconsciously tracing lazy patterns on the side of her wrist.

"Besides, I'm not dead yet," he pointed out, eyes fluttering shut. "And neither are you. I bet the Team's pretty close to finding us if they haven't already. We just have to hang on a little while longer."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Cassie conceded, watching as he cracked open a brown eye, a small smirk dancing across his chapped lips.

"Bonita, I'm _always_ right."

"Keep telling yourself that…Bug Man," she snickered.

"That's a horrible nickname," he grumbled, mentally cursing Tim with every vulgar Spanish word he knew for coming up with it. Slowly, Jaime unlatched his hand from hers only to slide it to her spine and tug her forward.

Cassie got the hint and scooted those extra few inches until she was pressed up against him and they were sharing body heat once more. "I don't know…It's pretty funny to me."

Jaime snorted his disagreement.

A silence had settled in the tiny prison, but it wasn't quite as sinister and hopeless as before. Maybe it was her eternal optimism. Or maybe it was his arm wrapped around her, offering a kind of protection that seemed to transcend his battered state.

"Hey Cassie?" His voice was laced with drowsiness. She thought he had already fallen asleep.

"Mmm?" She opened her eyes slowly only to find his dark brown ones inches away from her own, boring into her with such an intensity that she thought he might initiate a mental link of his own between them.

"I'm glad you're here with me."

Wonder Girl smiled, closing her eyes and touching her forehead to his. "Me too, Jaime." She yawned. "Me too."


End file.
